id co-founder suing former colleagues

id Software co-founder Adrian Carmack is suing his former partners over a lost …

id Software co-founder Adrian Carmack (no relation to John Carmack, id's lead programmer) has launched a lawsuit against his former company, claiming that a decision to turn down an US$105 million buyout offer from Activision cost him US$30 million. Adrian holds a 41 percent stock ownership in id Software, a private company.

Adrian has alleged that after the deal was rejected, his co-workers deliberately made efforts to push him out of the company, monitoring his hours, stripping him of privileges and denying him access to company documents. He left the company last year, and it was widely reported that he had retired from the business. However, Adrian now alleges that the retirement was not voluntary on his part. In addition, he claims the company stopped paying out profits as dividends in 2004, depriving him of income. Last year id Software earned US$30 million and made US$10 million in profit. Adrian's share of that profit would have been US$3.5 million. The lawsuit claims that Adrian was forced out after he refused an offer from id to buy out his contract for US$20 million.

According to the terms of his contract with id Software, Adrian is required to sell his shares back to the company. However, he is claiming that since he was forced out, the terms of that contract have been breached, and are no longer legally binding.

id Software has a long history of prominent employees choosing to leave the company. Co-founder John Romero left the company shortly after Quake I was released in 1996, citing artistic and design differences with John Carmack as the cause. Level designer American McGee also left over creative differences. Artist Paul Steed was forced out a few years later, ironically for supporting the idea to make Doom 3.

It is possible that Adrian Carmack is merely fishing for a large cash settlement, and thus is making as many claims against his former company as possible in hopes that it will be settled out of court. id Software has not yet commented on the case.